Golf is a well known recreational activity of ancient and honorable origins. Over the years, as the skills of the players of golf, both amateur and professional, have improved, much effort has been directed toward improving the equipment available to the players.
The game of golf is one in which the player advances the golf ball over a course by striking the ball with one of as many as fourteen clubs in a set. Each iron in a set of clubs generally has a shaft with a grip on one end and a iron head on the other. The player holds the iron at the grip area and swings the iron causing an impact of the iron head with the ball, advancing the ball over the course, from tee to green until the ball is "holed out" on each hole.
Of the fourteen clubs that a player is allowed to carry in a set, generally ten to eleven clubs are called "irons", that is to say that the iron head which is attached to the shaft of the iron is an iron or other cast metal structure. Of the ten or eleven irons in a set, they are generally numbered one through nine plus a pitching wedge and sand wedge. As the iron numbers progress from one upward, the loft of the face of the iron generally increases. Thus, the face of the iron head (the face being the portion of the iron which is used to strike the golf ball) of a one iron will be practically parallel to the axis of the shaft of the iron. As one progresses through the numbered irons in a set of irons, the angle of the face of the iron, in relationship to the axis of the shaft, increases. Because of the different loft on each golf iron, depending upon the iron, as the loft increases, the shot will be at a higher trajectory and will therefore travel a shorter distance. Players, through hours of practice, are able to judge the distance that they can hit a ball using each individual iron and therefore are able to control the distance of their shot. However, even though the player can control the distance of his shot, unless he can control the distance the ball rolls after it lands, he may nevertheless have an unsatisfactory result from a well executed shot.
Generally the irons of a set of clubs are used when shots are made approaching the green; thus, it is the players objective to land the ball as close to the hole as possible and to stop the ball at that location. After a golf ball is struck, when it lands, it will tend to roll forward, particularly if it has topspin or overspin, and the distance of the roll can be a product of many factors. The distance of the roll may be affected by the amount of overspin; it may be affected by the level of the terrain, whether the ball lands into an uphill grade or a downhill grade; the particular iron used to make the shot; and the like. If the ball has backspin after it is struck, when it lands, it will tend to stop where it lands, or possibly even spin back a few feet. Because of the varying distance of roll in the event that the ball does have overspin, the player can not control the placement of the shot in the same manner as he can when the ball has backspin.
The face of almost all the modern golf irons contains a series of parallel grooves, the grooves themselves being generally perpendicular to the axis of the shaft of the iron. The purpose of these grooves is to give the golfer greater control over his golf shot. When the iron is swung and the face strikes the golf ball, the grooves in the face will cause the golf ball to have backspin as it is propelled through the air toward the target. When the golf ball lands, the backspin on the golf ball will cause it to tend to stop at the spot where it lands or close thereby. In fact, often times, a well struck ball will have sufficient backspin to cause the ball to land, bounce forward and then spin or roll back a short distance toward the direction of the golfer who hit the shot.
The grooves in the face of the golf iron are a significant factor in the spin that is applied to the ball when it is struck by the player and thus the need for the present invention. If the grooves in the face of the golf iron get clogged, then the face of the golf iron is essentially flat and the grooves do not impart a spin to the golf ball in the same fashion as would happen if the grooves in the iron are clean and clear of debris. Each time that a golf ball is struck with the iron, the player normally takes a "divot", i.e., a portion of the turf on which the ball sits. In those cases, earth, sand, grass, and other debris will get lodged in the grooves of the iron face and impair the effectiveness of the equipment. Players over the years have used a golf tee to clean the grooves in their iron; they have used towels to wipe the iron face; they have on occasion carried knives or other sharp instruments that would clean the grooves in the iron face; and some players have gone so far as to carry with them a small wire or bristle brush that they use to clean their iron face after a shot. These solutions to this problem are awkward, cumbersome and ineffective, and the present invention is designed to remedy the problem of maintaining a clean golf iron face, especially the grooves therein, in a convenient and efficient manner, with a device that is portable, inexpensive, and effective.